Planning your content

Here’s how to create content with class and clout.

Define your ask

Everything starts with your ask. Your ask is your call to action.
This is your most important piece of campaign messaging. Everything you say and do during your campaign will repurpose your ask.
You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘elevator pitch’, a sales pitch designed to sell your listener on your project within 30 seconds. That’s exactly how your ask should roll.
It's short, snappy and memorable.
Your ask should cover:

• Who you are.
• What your project is.
• Why you’re doing this.
• The impact that project will have on something greater than yourself.
• How the listener can help.

What makes a strong ask?

Your ask needs to be specific, so people understand exactly what they are funding. 
Rather than saying ‘Support a short film showcasing important voices that need to be heard’ say ‘Your donation will pay our cast and crew as they tell stories that New Zealand needs to hear.’

Rather than saying ‘Fund the refurb of our community theatre” say ‘Help us install retractable seats so our theatre space can convert at the flick of a button from an auditorium to a cabaret or a community meeting space.’

You also need to be specific about how much you need, when you need it by, and how people can help. ALWAYS include a link, so people can easily give.

It's urgent

You only have 30 or so days to fund your project.
Not only that, but if you don’t make target in that time, you don’t get a cent. The pressure just got real. This is why you have to make sure that your ask reeks of urgency. Also, let people know what happens if you don’t get funded. Humans act on consequence.

It's emotionally compelling

Think about what emotions your Boosted project description should make people feel.
 

• Sadness makes people turn away.
• Fear makes people freeze, flee or fight.
• Anger can inspire people to take action or feel enraged.
• Awe makes us feel small in a big world, opens us to new ideas and makes us want to be part of something.
• Pride promotes positive social behaviour.
• Love makes us want to give and protect.
• Humour makes the big seem small – the heavy issues seem manageable.

Your ask features purpose and impact

Compare these three asks.
1. We’re rebuilding the community theatre and we need your help.
2. We’re rebuilding the community theatre in partnership with the local school to become a space for creative education and live performance, and we need your help.
3. We’re rebuilding the community theatre in partnership with the local school to become a space for creative education and live performance. Your children will have access to classes with internationally acclaimed drama teachers, and the chance to perform in professional productions. We need your help to make it happen.

The first ask covers what we’re doing. It’s factual, but not compelling.
The second ask brings purpose into the mix. It’s immediately more engaging.
The third ask includes purpose and impact and raised $90,000+ in 40 days for Lyttelton Arts Factory.

Define your voice

Good writers have a distinctive voice. When you read their words, you get a flavour of the person they are. Sometimes you like them. Sometimes they rub you up the wrong way. One thing’s for sure. You don’t feel ambivalent about them.

Brands have got wise to this. Often, brands want customers to feel like they’re interacting with a trusted friend rather than a corporate behemoth. They do this by creating a consistent voice across their communications.

Defining your voice is about being deliberate about the vibe you want to create. Use your voice to convey what makes you endearing, so that your crowd can relate to you and feel like they know you as a friend.

It’s also worth considering your voice because there might be a few people writing for your project. Defining your voice is important for consistency.

Voice can be characterised in several ways:

• Vocabulary and frequently used phrases. We all have friends who have signature sayings that evoke them. Chances are you have these, too. Have a read through your social posts and emails and try to see what words and phrases you use frequently. These form your conversational DNA.
• The mood you wish to evoke. Are you formal, funny, sweary, earnest, casual, irreverent, worldly or passionate?
• What do you want people to feel when they read your words? If you keep that intent in mind when you write, you’re more likely to convey the right vibe.
• Do you write long convoluted sentences or short snappy ones?

PRO TIP: Ask some close friends to help you define your voice. Invite them to read different pieces you have written and ask which pieces feel most like you and why. Ask them what speaks to them, what they find feels most authentic and inviting.

Have a content plan

Running a crowdfunding campaign puts you under pressure to come up with fresh ways to ask for money for 30 days.
This isn’t always easy.

But you can make it a lot smoother for yourself by having a list of topics you’ll create content about. Spend time thinking about the sort of content you can create before your campaign starts, so that you’re not scrabbling for ideas when things get hectic.

Here are some content thought starters to get you cranking:

• Behind the scenes glimpses of your project. Can you show work in progress? Rehearsals? Even project meetings can provide opportunities for content if you hold them in an interesting place.
• Introduce the people behind your campaign. Get them to tell their story and why they’re involved with your project.
• User generated content. This means content created by your friends and fans. More voices add credibility. Share the content your crowd create about you or your project. You can share reviews, testimonials, images, videos, social posts, and blogs or articles. Ask permission before you share and always credit your source.
• Give regular progress reports. You’ve got one week left, you’re at 50% of your target, you have three days to go, time is running out… Updates are where you can use the all-or-nothing target to entice your crowd to give.
• Promote campaign events and tell people where they can find you. If you’re doing pop-up talks and promos as part of your campaign, let people know. Lots of activity creates an impression that your project is a hot property and therefore something they’ve got to get on board with.
• Share your project plan and project budget. The more people understand what you’ll do with their money, the more likely they are to give.
• Share your media mentions. This adds credibility.
• Share any fundraising partnerships. Is your local brewery brewing you a special fundraising ale? Are your kids holding a bake sale? Is a local café giving a percentage of sales to your cause? Tell people.
• Thank you messages to the people who have given and supported your project. Thank your crowd every day for their support and make your thanks specific and personal as well as general. Call out particular donors. Share their words of support. If people give you money in person tell that story. Make as much of small donors as large gifts. Never underestimate the power of gratitude to grow giving.

Live video

If you’re into it and use social media a lot, share lots of live video. Live video (Facebook Live and Instagram Stories) gives viewers content that feels immediate, exclusive, and real. It lets your supporters in on your latest news and lets you talk to them like friends. In this day and age, live video is viewed three times as often as pre-recorded video.

Good ways to use live video include:

• Episodic storytelling: check ins on how your project is coming along. Updates on how your funding is growing. When you reach each significant milestone, explain how that money will be used to benefit the project.
• Breaking news: we’re at 50%. We’ve got a match donor on board. XYZ influencer just gave us a boost. We’re starting to film.
• Messages of support from donors explaining why they’re supporting your cause. This social proof is invaluable.
• Sharing events with those who can’t attend in person and creating FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)

PRO TIP: 85% of Facebook videos are watched with the sound off, so add captions if you can. Vertical videos like Instagram stories are watched with the sound on more often.

How to make a movement

A movement happens when the cause you are promoting becomes bigger than the people involved. Check out this phenomenal case study video for an organ donor campaign run in Recife, Brazil to get a feel for how a movement can be catalysed.

Movements are a particularly powerful tactic if you are running a large campaign that benefits the community.

So how do you use content to create a social movement around your project?

• Bring value to your community by entering their world. Connect with what they care about and relate to. Affirm what they already know and identify with, rather than highlighting their knowledge gaps.
• Use moral language if your project justifies it. This is especially impactful with creative projects that speak to fundamental issues like human rights, gender equality, the right to fair wages, humanitarian crises, environmental preservation, sustainability and many other issues of our time.
• Tell stories. Stories are the fundamental unit of human communication. Every social movement starts with a story. Memories attach to stories; they make the new familiar and the familiar new. A story has an arc: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. You can tell the same story in different ways, from different perspectives. And remember, the people most affected are always the best people to tell the story.
• Speak in pictures and use metaphors to build mental images. Words have power and you can use them to invoke emotion with strategy and intention. 
• Make your calls-to-action actionable. A good call to action tells your readers exactly what they need to do. Be specific. The best calls to action include a benefit.
• Build curiosity. It may feel counter-intuitive, but we’re more curious about things we already know about. Find the common ground with your crowd.
• Lastly, avoid jargon. If your granny wouldn’t understand a word or phrase, don’t use it. The only exception to this rule is if you are only targeting a very niche crowd and jargon helps establish common ground.